Language Exchange Encounters

Mid afternoon of June 09, 2007 I was walking the streets of Minamikata from Dio and Mar's mansion carrying my music case with me. We pulled a late night practice jam session. It's actually funny to think of myself being so serious about this activity when I know that it won't get me anywhere. But it was really fun so I didn't mind the fact that I was feeling a little filthy since I haven't taken a bath at that time. :P
At around 4:30 PM I had language exchange session at Umeda with my friend Kazuo-san. Afterwhich came the highlight of the day. Both of his male friends came at around 6:00PM. One was another language partner who is of Vietnamese origin but have lived in California for sometime named "Chi" and the other one was the most handsome guy in the face of Umeda, Hamada-san who is an architect and a business associate of Kazuo-san. (I'm telling you this guy is drop dead gorgeous, but unfortunately he's not tall. In addition, he's so into sports and I'm not! :P). We had a great conversation in a "Yakiniku" place near Kazuo-san's office.
After filling our stomachs with the delicious food we headed out to a bar near Umeda central. I forgot the name of the place(again) but the lighting there was a little dark and it had the "keep things private" ambience. But mind you, all the people there were noisy. Most of them were young people on group dates.
And one thing I have to put into record for this blog is the fact that Hamada-san and I ended up going together towards the Hankyu station since he lives in Toyonaka. God is SO NICE to me!
I doubt if I could get to see that guy again though. But he was definitely food for my eyes that night. Should I call him or write him sometime? I have his business card, maybe we should do business together! FAT CHANCE! :P

Last Day

Last March 30 was my last day of working for CMK whose main office is located at Bentencho. That day I was not feeling so happy about the fact that my contract was not renewed. CMK's manager said to my manager that he cannot offer a project for me at the moment so he has to let me go. I didn't have my usual vigor and my movements were a little slow. That day I wasn't able to ride my usual 7:26 subway train. Instead I got on the next one after that.
Eversince I started working in Bentencho I've always tried to ride this train since it's not too early nor too late to get to the workplace. But an added bonus to this train was a tall young handsome japanese guy who looks like a teenage idol star. He always waits for this train too, he usually rides in the first car. I usually go to the second car because I get squished in the first car. :-P Most mornings, I pass him by because he always waits at the back and doesn't join the line of people. That day, I was surprised when I came up the escalator and saw him waiting for the train. I couldn't help be happy at the thought that he was late too. (Here goes my destiny stuff again, hahahaha ).
As usual I headed out to the second train. The train came at last and we started boarding. To my surprise, that young handsome japanese guy came running to our car and squeezed himself in the same door I got into. Wow! talk about destiny, huh...
The door was finally closing and the car was so full that I had trouble breathing so I had to tilt my head up just to get some air. There are really many disadvantages to being short especially when you're riding a train where everyone else is taller than you are! :-P
The train started running. The young handsome japanese guy "teenage idol" was situated near the door while I was on the second row of people from the door. When the train stopped at Umeda, many people got out and I moved back. He was still by the door so were situated beside each other by this time. :-) I was ecstatic, I was laughing out loud in my mind! I was thinking, God is such a great comedian. Of all the days that this had to happen, it had to be on my last day of work wherein there won't ever be other chances of it happening again! Oh well might as well savor the moment while it lasts. And so from Umeda to Hommachi we were standing side by side by the door. He was really tall, and he didn't smell bad at all! No cigarette scent, no morning breath stink...everything looked and smelled PERFECT! hahahaha.
But sadly, all good things must come to an end. The train made a stop at Hommachi and this is where I get off to change for the Chou Line to get to Bentencho. Huling hirit...this was where he got off too! But then he went the other way and not towards the Chou Line. Oh well, I can't really do anything about that. :-P. I wish I could be his stalker but I don't have the finances for it(hahahaha) Well then, bye bye "teenage idol"!

The Nightmare Interviews

Call me crazy but I think I'm starting to have phobia for job interviews. Especially the one's which are in Nihongo.
I've been to 3 Interviews in the last two weeks and each of them were equally embarassing for me. I had one interview where the interviewer had to repeat the question more than 3 times and that even involved rephrasing the question 3 times but still I didn't get it. I could feel my face turning red and my blood pressure rising. I could feel the pulse in my head popping. Oh God! Do these stuff have to be this embarassing?! I never really had much of a problem expressing myself before. As a matter of fact, my usual problem involved expressing myself too much to the point of tactlessness but then it was always through a language that I'm already adept to.
Interview No. 1 - The venue of disaster 1 was in Nishinakajima-Minamigata. Yes, close to where I live. In fact it's just a walking distance from where I'm staying. There was another woman with me, a Japanese woman, she was 23. She was tall and elegant and she can definitely speak Nihongo! (mochiron!) Her experience was not as extensive as mine but she didn't have trouble talking to the interviewer so that made a whole lot of difference. When my turn for an "appeal" came up all I could say was that I have been programming using the language for the last 5 years so I think I can do any job with it. The interviewer looked at my resume and noticed that I had experience with many programming languages from Assembly, Java, C/C++ etc. and asked me the magic question: Which one do you like best? I wanted to say "I like all of them especially the one that will hand me my next project!" or "I'd like any programming language that would give me my next job so that I won't have to do these interviews anymore!".
Interview No. 2 - Disaster venue 2 - Honmachi - I went out to exit 24 and arrived at the meeting place a good 45 minutes early so I went strolling for a while around the area. This time there were 2 interviewers, one was young and the other one a little senior. I guess the young one was a technical lead while the other one was of managerial position. There was also another applicant with me but it was a guy this time. And then the "interrogation" began. The young one started talking and it didn't seem to end. He was one fast talker. All I could make out of what he said where "te" "te" "yatte" "te" and more "te". Ok dude, whatever! What are you saying?! My mouth was starting to open in awe. I could see fireflies in my head. This is going to be another disaster!! This was the interview where I got up and drew the description of my last project. Though I wasn't really sure if the question they asked was only about my last project. I don't care anymore! I wanted to disappear from the face of the earth the moment I got back to my seat. I was thinking, "when will this torture end"!?!
Interview No. 3 - Disaster venue 3 - Kyobashi . Mistake no. 1 - I thought the meeting area was exit no. 1 of the subway but I was wrong it was on the other end. It was a blessing that Sagami-san was there to meet me, else I would have been lost. I've been lost in Umeda 3 times before, I don't ever want to be lost again! We waited for the agent at JR station. Then the agent and I headed out to Kyobashi. When we got to Kyobashi this agent turned me over to another agent. And finally inside the Twin Tower building cafe the interview was conducted. The were two of them as interviewers but neither of them brought a copy of my resume and that came as a surprise to me. What questions will they ask me without referring to my resume? By this time I have gotten used to my "eh" and "wakarimasen" phrases. The only positive answer I gave that night was towards the question regarding my english ability. The rest of the night was blurry to me. Even the free coffee didn't taste quite as good to my tongue considering the embarassing moments I have to endure while drinking it! Then I got into another pinch. When I got to the JR station I didn't know which train to ride on. I usually ride the subway to work so I didn't know much about trains. What I did know was that some trains don't stop in some stations. I had to make sure the train I'll ride on stops at Umeda. But the announcements and the electronic sign board didn't display anything like Umeda so I had to call people just to confirm what train to ride on. It was turning out to be really troublesome!
All in all I have 5 people(interviewers) to avoid. If ever I will see these people again on the streets or on the train, I'll definitely make a run for it. I will run for my life! I will run the hell away!!!

Lately

Lately, you've been in my dreams. Even when I'm awake you're still in my mind. I wonder what it is that you want to say to me. Is it something that you can't tell me on the phone? When I call you, I always ask how things are and yet you always reply the same way. Is it perhaps me who has something to say to you? I'm don't know but I'm pretty sure I miss you. Again today as I rode the train my eyes watered, not enough for tears just enough to make my vision sparkle. I miss you...Ma.

Japanese Interview

One of my worse fears is about to happen! I just learned that my current client will not renew my contract since they cannot offer a new project for me at present. I have to go through interviews to get another client. (totemo shinpai!) My Japanese is a total sham. The only Nihongo I could understand are those that are spoken in a super slow speed like the ones in the children's show in NHK where the speaker stops at each preposition and I can only understand simple and common/standard textbook words. I wonder if a smile would be enough as an answer to a questions I don't understand? I'll be sure to floss a lot and brush my teeth well before the interview so that I can win them over with a smile since I'm pretty sure I can't win them over by relying on my Nihongo skills, which by the way, I should say, is close to NON-EXISTENT!
Why oh why! Oh well, I can't possibly beg my present client to keep me, I know I'm not in the least an asset to them. So might as well head on and do my best.
Just a thought: I wonder which one I should be more scared of, being alone in the middle of the ocean(my worst fear but not likely to happen soon) or doing a Japanese interview and totally embarassing myself(not exactly my worst fear but it's highly likely happen soon)...hmmmmm

Bye Bye Esaka

I was just informed when I went to work yesterday(December26) that it was my last day of work for the year. My boss called my PL and told him that I don't need to come for work on thursday. Next year, I will start working in Bentencho. I was a little disappointed because I wasn't able to prepare. I had to dash to the 100yen shop to buy bags to pack my things (my pillow and other stuff). What made me sadder still is the fact that I couldn't say goodbye to my favorite views in the office which includes (cheerful girl(fujimoto-san), bera bera girl(michiomo-san), mr. snob(nishida-san), and mr. noisy(jmas-tanaka-san)). Mr. Noisy was absent but I kept looking over his chair hoping that he would come to work maybe in the afternoon. But he didn't come at all. Wahhhhh...where's fate when you need it?!
And when we finally went out of the room that night, mr. snob wasn't in his chair either nor was bera bera girl. Where was everybody?! And to add to this yoke, I don't have anybody's number. I couldn't ask for it 'cause they weren't around. Oh well, that's life.
So now, I'll just say goodbye to them in my mind. Goodbye to my laptop, my desk, mr. sounds like sean connery, mr. scared of foreign women, bera bera girl, cheerful girl, mr. snob and mr. noisy. Bye Esaka, it has been a worthwhile 6 months.

Can't catch up

Today, as usual, I went through my daily morning routine. This includes a bath, breakfast of a small piece of bread (since I have no time to prepare and eat a whole meal) and a lot of running!
The only difference was that, I got to ride on the same train as mr. cute and noisy! (Yipeee!) It was not only the same train but the same car and the same door or should I say adjacent door. He got on Shin Osaka which opens on the right but Nishinakajima Minamigata(my place) opens to the left. Talk about destiny. hahahaha.
At first I didn't know it was him 'till I saw the phone that he was holding, he has the same phone as mr. cool who still thinks like a teenager, that's when I confirmed that it was really him! What a great coincidence! bwahahaha. Of course, I stared at him the whole time inside the train. He didn't glance back, not even once! Deadma! Well, the trip wasn't that long anyway. It was less than 15 mins of staring so he wasn't melting yet. mwehehehehe.
Then the train finally stopped in Esaka, so it was time to get off. Before I could get close to him, people came rushing to the door so I was forced to stay at the back. When the door opened, he rushed out, so I tried my best to hurriedly go out to catch up. But that guy just walks too damn fast and I have damn short legs! But I was glad when I went down the stairs and saw that the traffic light was red. Meaning, he has to stop, which also means I can difinitely catch up to him.(I was still climbing down the stairs with my damn short legs!) That's what I thought, but then, he dashed through the red light! That damn stupid noisy guy! I wanted to cross the red light too, but I got scared so I didn't. (I'm not like Idel who can cross a red light, you know.)
And so he kept on walking on the opposite side of the street until he finally vanished from my sight. So much for destiny. bwahahaha.